First Group The Palace All-Suite

Well, this is a hotel I will certainly never return to and that I will never book any of my clients into. I attended Travel Indaba in Durban and had booked 4 nights in the Palace hotel, which, according to their website is ALL-SUITE. Nothing is further from the truth. I ended up in a room with an en-suite bathroom but that was as far as 'suite' went. It was a bog-standard hotel room, fairly small and certainly not a suite. I arrived on the 11th floor at 2145 in the evening, the door to the room was open and two staff members were running around like headless chickens, looked aghast when they saw me and told me that they were just making the bed. Anybody's guess what happened in that room during the day. When I finally was able to enter the room, I quickly spotted a very dirty carpet, with stains in all sorts of colors and shapes, I'm not sure if that room has been cleaned properly in a long time. The seats are badly discolored as well, looking closely I assume they were once green but now have brown, red, and all manner of stains. Since the carpet was so dirty, I had placed wipes on my bedside table to avoid dragging the dirt from carpet into bed with me, as I had to walk through the room from the bathroom. The wipe was grimy despite just having had a shower. As to the furnishings, minimal, and no thought has been given to people of smaller stature, in a wheelchair, or, like myself, with a rotator cuff injury who cannot reach above their head. The safe is on the topmost shelf of a wardrobe that I estimate to be around 2.20 metres high, and the kettle, cups and tea/coffee are in a cupboard that is higher than the top of the tv. The water in the shower reaches tepid temperature at best. I have never before seen such a dirty room and I did my best to find alternative accommodation so I could check out of this horror story, but with a trade show, there was no accommodation to be had anywhere near the ICC. Definitely not the best room to put a travel agent into, who you expect to give you business, this one certainly won't. Another striking feature is that despite being on the 11th floor, the sliding window opens wide, very unusual in most hotels at such a height. The walls are paper-thin, I could hear the other party speak when the guest in the next room was on his phone. Definitely NOT recommended, do yourself a favor and give this one a miss. ps. I have meanwhile looked through some other reviews and see that they are simply following a script with the replies, going back to 2017 the answer is constantly "I assure you that these issues have been addressed to ensure improvement.". If they haven't learnt by now in those 7 years, there is no hope anything will ever improve

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING EXPERIENCE AT PALACE HOTEL. 1. We found ******e needles in the bathroom cupboards. We put about 6 in a plastic bag and took it down stairs. 2.Requested a refund and to leave the moment we saw it which was an hour or two into our stay. 3.No manager on duty so we were forced to stay till the morning when he advised we would be refunded. So he gave us another room. 4.managers came the next morning heard the story took down my banking details and assured I'd have a refund within 7 days. 5.it is 2 to 3 weeks later still no refund and only to tell me he will not be giving a refund anymore... 6. Rude, unprofessional, dirty unpleasant stay I recommend this place to no one..

The hotel is right on the beach with excellent access to it and a great view. The beach is very busy and can be noisy, so maybe not the best place if you’re after a quiet get away. But, if you want a hopping place, it’s that. VERY helpful people who went out of their way to make sure our stay went well.

The hotel was fair, the staff were nice very helpfull. The meal's were not very nice because it was the same thing every day, they didn't change the menu at all. Breakfast was not english breakfast as they said it was. The pool was not clean you had to ask them to clean it before you could go in it. The owner of the hotel was always picking on the staff he was not very nice. I would not go there again to far from the shop's and market.

good location just by the beach and room has great view of beach to watch sunrise

We were in Durban for a junior tennis competition. So there were a few of us staying at the hotel. I had read the reviews about staff friendliness; but I suspected that they might be slightly untrue, given that the reviews were always so good. Oh my god - the staff are amazing. I have stayed in some of the best hotels in the world - and the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff is just as fantastic. Yes - sure - there are more presentable parts of the beach further north up the coast - that is probably true - however, this area is just fine. Much more exciting. Much more in touch with the locals. And the hotel could not get closer to the beach. In fact - I think it is the closest hotel to the beach, in the whole of Durban. And all the rooms have sea views. And because the hotel literally looks onto the promenade - if you love watching people, you will not get bored at looking out of your window for hours on end watching the activity below. On top of it all - great restaurant and room service in house. Plus some more places to eat just minutes away. And having a full kitchen in the room is also a massive bonus. We can't wait to go back in a few months time.

Although the facilities and the room are great, it is the staff that made our stay. Nothing was ever too much and always eager to assist. Friendly and knowledgeable, have already recommended to my daughter who is visiting Durban in a month’s time.

The staff was very friendly and my apar**ent was very clean. The staff is very professional

The images online are deceiving. This property is deteriorating. Very very old and outdated. Not worth it considering that one can stay at a better hotel in a different area at about the same price!